Conversion varnish/Catalyzed laquer ???
Cary PICK6
I need a finishing technique for repairing a veneer desk top with a conversion
varnish or catalyzed laquer that can be brushed on or hand applied. What do I
need for removing the same and what type of stripper removes catalyzed laquer?
Thanks in advance.
Mike Onotsky
Good Luck!! I have tried just about everything to remove catalyzed
lacquers from furniture (even three different methlyene chlodide
strippers) and I'll tell you now, not gonna happen! It will work a
little with the strongest strippers but it will take about five
applications and even then it will take a lot of sanding. I just
finished 31 table tops for a local restaurant that had a cat finish. I
had to sand the old finish off (big mess but it was the fastest) with a
belt sander and 80 grit belts. Sanding is your only practical solution.
As for brushing on a catylyzed lacquer/conversion varnish, good luck
again!! To do these properly, they have to be sprayed. You may be able
to find a pre-catylyzed lacquer that can be brushed but it will be tough
too. They are not quite as hard as a cat but they are repairable and
stripped a little easier.
Good luck
dobroth
Shafner
Cary PICK6 wrote:
>
> I need a finishing technique for repairing a veneer desk top with a conversion
> varnish or catalyzed laquer that can be brushed on or hand applied. What do I
> need for removing the same and what type of stripper removes catalyzed laquer?
>
> Thanks in advance.
Kwick Kleen (the supplier that I use because they have a couple dozen or more
different types of chemical stripping agents, more than any other supply
house) and some other finishing supply companies make a stripper that will
remove these modern 2-part coatings. It is an acid-based (folic and acetic
acids) stripper that will eat through your skin. This is a very corrosive
material. It does not discolor the wood. It has a pH of 2 or 3. You neutralize
it with water.
As for brushing on these finishes, there are dry mil tolerances that you will
have difficulty keeping consistent, and that will certainly affect the
durability and performance of your film finish. After 4 or 5 mils, the film
can craze or crack. These finishes just dry too quickly to level out properly.
They really need to be sprayed.
I think that conversion varnish, (a 2-part, acid catalyzed, high-tech, high
performance coating) stays wet longer than does catalyzed lacquer (another
2-part, acid catalyzed coating). So if I were going to try to brush one or the
other, I would choose conversion varnish. Sherwin-Willaims makes a conversion
varnish, but is only available in a 5 gallon pail. You reduce it with zylene.
These finishes contain formaldehyde, which is great if you are a dead frog and
want to spend etenity in a mason jar, or if you want to slow down your own
aging process even though it will kill you.
The project sounds like a challenge. For a one time thing, it could be costly.
You MUST have a full face sheild, chemiacal resistant rubber gloves and a
rubber apron to use the stripper. When I say that it melts your skin, that is
not AlGore hyperbole. It WILL melt your skin and corrode metal. You keep a
large bucket of water nearby, just in case. A quick wash will prevent injury.
--
Daniel Shafner
shafner at webspan dot net
If you outlawed rap music, then only
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Mike & Donna McCombs
<snip>
>They really need to be sprayed.
>
>I think that conversion varnish, (a 2-part, acid catalyzed, high-tech, high
>performance coating) stays wet longer than does catalyzed lacquer (another
>2-part, acid catalyzed coating). So if I were going to try to brush one or
the
>other, I would choose conversion varnish. Sherwin-Willaims makes a
conversion
>varnish, but is only available in a 5 gallon pail. You reduce it with
zylene.
>Daniel Shafner
I recently bought some of the SW Water White Con. Varnish in a one gallon
can but the required catalyst came in a quantity that would do many gallons
of varnish.
Mike McCombs
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